Railway maintenance is very important to successful and continued operation of a railway (also called a railroad). Railway tracks comprise at least two parallel rails, typically coupled to a series of sleepers (also called ties) and stabilized on a bed of ballast. With use and exposure to the elements, railway tracks may wear and move out of alignment. Worn, misaligned, and/or outdated track may be adjusted, aligned, and/or replaced. Such maintenance may include changing out broken track and defective rails, removing and reconstructing tracks, repairing switches, cutting rails, tightening and replacing track bolts (also called rail bolts), grinding rails (e.g., rail heads, switch points), welding rails, clipping rails, replacing sleepers, and/or reconfiguring ballast.
The challenge of maintaining a railway is exacerbated by recent trends of smaller windows of track time devoted to maintenance, a drive for more track up time, accelerated railway use, and a limited workforce. In particular, about 40% of the current railway workforce is projected to retire over the next 10 years, thus leading to a general decline in workforce experience.
Much railway maintenance is performed with gas or hydraulic hand tools which are heavy and cumbersome, thus limiting productivity. Hydraulic hand tools may present an added safety concern with hydraulic lines draped across a work site.